#mandala

As a test of the traditional to digital workflow, I designed the Photoshop shape layers over the scanned drawing from my mandala diary. Working on this design kicked me into the flow, I’ve lost the track of time.

I’ve found the inspiration for this mandala in the cathedral rosette designs. I’ve used masking fluid to reserve the white and painted the primary red and blue wet in wet to create the effect of the light shining through a colored glass.

Recently I’ve come across the first Tibetan mandala I remember seeing years ago. When I saw it again with the fresh eyes, I’ve realized that my abstract mandala paintings are missing the square element. The mandala can be interpreted as a symbol of the union of the opposites: the microcosm and the macrocosm, the one and the many, the circle and the square. Without a square, it was missing the crucial symbolic element.